Mine Rescue Continued Wednesday in Chile

By midday Wednesday, more than half of the miners trapped underground in Chile had been brought rescued.

They had been a half mile below the surface after a landslide Aug. 5.

The 17th miner brought up was Omar Reygadas, a 56-year-old widower who worked as an electrician and led one of three groups down below after the 33 men divided their duties to keep organized.

Reygadas has six children, 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. He has spent three decades working the mines, and this is the third time he had been trapped underground.

The rescue has been proceeding smoothly and methodically, but somewhat faster than expected.

They've been riding up the more than 2,000 foot escape shaft in a special capsule. The 28-inch-diameter shaft has some curves, but Chile's health minister says the capsule has not been rotating as much as officials had expected as it moves through them. That's allowed the trip to go faster.

After 69 days, the miners have survived being trapped underground longer than anyone on record. Their vital signs are being closely monitored as they make the journey up the shaft.

They've been given a high-calorie liquid diet donated by NASA that's designed to prevent nausea from any rotation of the capsule.

At the current pace, all 33 miners should be out before sunrise Thursday.

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